how can I secure admission into a college like UC Berkeley, UMD college park, or GIT?

<p>Hello, i am currently a sophomore in high school, and i want to go to college park and get into the computer science honors program. </p>

<p>my current cumulative GPA from 9th grade is 3.3
and my WGPA is 3.8</p>

<p>i took AP gov last year but unfortunately failed and got a 2, and i did pretty bad in the class it self. </p>

<p>this year i am taking ap us history, and i have an A in the class,
next year i plan on taking AP Chemistry, AP Comp Sci, and AP lang. </p>

<p>My GPA was pretty bad last year, and for the first semester this year, i will probably get a 3.85 or possibly a 4.0, which will raise my GPA and WGPA.</p>

<p>Currently at my school I am in the Robotics Club, Varsity Tennis, Rubiks cube club, Website management team, and an electric car racing team for electrathon. </p>

<p>I take practice SATs from the KAPLAN book and i am around the 1600-1700 level. i did pretty bad on the PSAT this year and got a 148, im going to take a prep class the summer before junior year. </p>

<p>What GPA and SAT/ACT scores should i get to secure admission into UMD College Park Computer science honors program?</p>

<p>Look at gpa and scores of accepted students. Those are published in the common data set. Be at the top of the range. It may be too late to get admitted to the Honors program, but you should be satisfied with a regular admit, that will get you where you need to go. I see you have discovered and posted over in the UMCP forum. Why no do some reading before posting?</p>

<p>UC Berkeley and all the UC’s don’t look at freshman grades. However your predicted SAT scores don’t look in range at all. It is hard to bring up the SAT grades significantly, but if you are willing to try, browse the pinned threads at the top of the SAT-preparation subforum. Costs and admissions are difficult for OOS students. You also have to make sure you take all the required a - g courses.
[SAT</a> Preparation - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sat-preparation/]SAT”>SAT Preparation - College Confidential Forums)</p>

<p>i kind of screwed up last year, i didnt take it too seriously, and now i am really tying to pick up the pace with SAT practice, and GPA raising, i also would like to think that i could do better on the ACT because of its subject oriented nature.</p>

<p>please help, i need advice</p>

<ul>
<li>Get As. Its much easier to change your GPA now than when your older. You get good grades by first understanding how the class is graded then putting in the time you need to get that outcome. </li>
<li>Plan on taking all the core subject AP classes. </li>
<li>Dont bother with the PSAT your not in range for NMS</li>
<li>You will generally get the best test score when you are older and have taken the test twice. Take ACT and SAT practice tests from the red/blue books and see which one you do better on. Prep Jr year and take one test in the spring then again start of your Sr. year. For most students the sr year test will be the highest.</li>
</ul>

<p>babachicken -</p>

<p>What state do you live in? If you are in Maryland, then go have a nice long visit with your own HS guidance counselor. Ask about the grades, test scores, extra curricular activities, etc. that recent graduates who were admitted at UM-CP have had. That will give you a target to shoot for. Same goes for a CA resident interested in UC Berkeley or a GA resident interested in GA Tech.</p>

<p>Please do remember that there is no way to guarantee admission at any of the places on your current list, and if you are an out-of-state applicant admissions is much less easy to predict than for in-state applicants.</p>

<p>There is no admissions guarantee. As suggested speak to your GC who can give you a very clear idea of previous students who have been successful in admissions to UMC-CP engineering as far as GPA, rigor, rank, and scores. What many Maryland students are finding is it’s harder to get into their own flagship (UMD-CP) then neighboring states. Any engineering admit is going to be competitive by nature. It is self-selecting with many students who have good course rigor and stats. You can research where you may be more successful. Maryland students are finding VT is often better odds then UMD-CP. Conversely, many Virginia students are finding UMD-CP an easier admit then VT. These are trends and not absolutes. They are notable because they run against conventional thought that being instate gives you an advantage. I’m not suggesting the OP is a bad match for UMD-CP and a good match for VT, that’s for them to research. It’s just something to consider.</p>

<p>Yeah i live in maryland, ill talk to my counselor as soon as break is over, thanks for the advice</p>

<p>anyone else have advice</p>